This invention relates to control of an actuator-sensor-interface (AS-I) compatible device. More particularly, this invention relates a communication network for controlling an actuator sensor interface (AS-I) compatible device using a remote intelligence device.
In electrical control systems, it is desirable to provide status information of various control elements, such as an electromagnetic contactor. For example, it is desirable that the system controller knows whether the electromagnetic contactor is operating under a normal condition or an abnormal condition, such as operating during a current overload condition, for example. In conventional control systems, a local device (i.e., a slave device) located at the electromagnetic contactor is equipped with the intelligence to determine the operating state of the electromagnetic contactor, and reports the information to a remote monitoring device (i.e., a master device). In a control system that includes various control elements, the task of equipping each local device with the intelligence necessary, may increase manufacturing costs.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a system having a remote, centralized intelligence device (i.e., a master device) capable of determining the operating state of a device such as an electromechanical device, and monitoring and controlling the device.